Xbox’s Phil Harrison Talks Football, Xbox One Games, and What to Expect Next

A quick look on Wikipedia tells me that football (or ‘soccer’ to you folks over the Atlantic) is the world’s most popular sport with 250 million players in over 200 countries – and of course billions of people watching on TV. Is that all?

Those are huge, incomprehensible numbers but, to me, football feels even bigger. For many, it’s not just a sport; it’s a way of life connecting people from cultures and countries all around the world with a shared passion for the “beautiful game”. And it’s coming to Xbox One in the most incredible way this year.

If you didn’t hear the news at gamescom, we have joined forces with Electronic Arts to bring the latest instalment of the world’s best-selling sports franchise “FIFA 14” to life on Xbox One and Xbox 360 in unique ways that won’t be available on any other platform.

Want to sign up legendary players like Pelé to your Ultimate Team – and pair them up with today’s giants like Messi? You can. Only on Xbox One and Xbox 360.

As a long-time Gunners fan, I’m particularly looking forward to signing Arsenal ‘Invincibles’ members Patrick Viera and Freddie Ljungberg to my Ultimate Team, although I’m not sure even they could help me beat their record of 49 consecutive unbeaten games. But I’ll give it my best shot…

Anyway, back to business. Over 40 of the world’s football legends will be playable alongside today’s stars in “FIFA 14” Ultimate Team, each with their own unique attributes and custom bios.

We get to bring this to Xbox thanks to our partnership with EA. Sharing the stage with Matt Bilbey, Freddie Ljungberg and Ruud Gullit earlier today was great and made me more determined than ever to ensure we keep offering fans mind-blowing exclusives on both Xbox One and Xbox 360.

Speaking of which, we also announced at gamescom that Xbox fans will get all downloadable content for “Call of Duty: Ghosts” first on Xbox One & Xbox 360, continuing our successful long-term partnership with Activision.

Alongside these massive blockbusters, we want to bring the broadest selection of creativity and new experiences to gamers on Xbox. I couldn’t be more excited about our new Independent Developers @ Xbox (ID@Xbox) program which will enable game developers of all shapes and sizes to build, publish and distribute their games digitally on Xbox One.

One of the things I enjoy most about gamescom is engaging directly with our fans. Their passion is absolutely extraordinary and it was a thrill to see so much buzz and excitement around our Xbox One launch line up and announcements we made.

We got fantastic reactions across the board, from “Forza Motorsport 5” to “Dead Rising 3” and “Killer Instinct”. A title you might have heard of - “Titanfall” – was particularly in demand. We got fantastic reactions to “Kinect Sports Rivals” and “Project Spark” too. In the end, the games do the talking – and we can’t wait for you to play.

I left our showcase event with same thought I always have: what next? We haven’t even launched yet but rest assured we’re already planning more great stuff to ensure that Xbox continues to raise the bar.

So expect more mega franchises like FIFA, with Xbox exclusive content. Expect more exclusives titles like "Titanfall." Expect more epics like "Halo" and "Call of Duty." Expect more games reimagined for Xbox One such as “Fable Legends”. And expect the most immersive, new generation gameplay with multiplayer and innovations like Kinect and SmartGlass which make your experience way more fun and authentic than it could have been before.

It’s going to be a great year for gaming…thanks as ever for your continued support!
-Phil